French champions take charge against Brest
Brest 0 - 3 PSG
Paris Saint-Germain took a firm grip on their all-French Champions League play-off tie against Brest, with Ousmane Dembélé continuing his red-hot form by bagging another two goals.
Former Wolves loanee Vitinha opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 21st minute after Pierre Lees-Melou was penalised for handling a shot from Dembélé.
The France international doubled PSG’s lead just before half-time, clinically finishing after Brest failed to close him down. He then added his second and PSG’s third in the 66th minute, seizing on a loose ball inside the box.
Dembélé has now netted 18 goals in his last 11 outings for PSG across all competitions, taking his tally for the season to 23 as the Ligue 1 leaders continue to dominate.
Brest, making their Champions League debut this season, had little luck in front of goal. Shortly before Dembélé’s first strike, Abdallah Sima hit the post with a header from a corner, and moments later, PSG’s Achraf Hakimi inadvertently struck the opposite post while attempting to clear the ball.
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This fixture marked the first play-off match under the new Champions League format, with the return leg set for 19th February in Paris.
PSG, still chasing their first-ever Champions League title, were in danger of an early exit before crucial wins over Manchester City and Stuttgart in the league phase secured them a play-off place.
Now in a commanding position, they are strong favourites to progress and could face either Liverpool or Barcelona in the last 16.
Some interesting stats and closer analysis
Dembélé's first goal – a clinical strike at Bizot’s near post just before half-time – saw him become the first PSG player to score in eight consecutive games since Neymar managed the feat between May and August 2022.
He doubled his tally after the break, taking his tally to 18 goals in his last 11 appearances for PSG across all competitions.
Since the start of December, no player in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more goals than him.
The match also featured a strong French presence, with 11 Frenchmen in the starting line-ups—eight for Brest and three for PSG—the highest number of French starters in a Champions League game since April 2010, when Bordeaux faced Lyon in a previous other all-French encounter (13).
